“The sense of paralysis proceeds not so much out of the mammoth size of the problem but out of the puniness of the purpose.”

– Norman Cousins

Dateline: Rocky Point, Mexico – March, 2010. My business partner Manny Romero and I, along with a couple of buddies, headed four hours south of Phoenix for some sun, sand, golf and cervezas. This would be our first annual guy-only trip – we called it a Mancation.

No detail was overlooked. Manny set us up in an awesome resort condo right on the beach. He booked our tee times. I checked the weather – perfect conditions – and packed the cooler full of Pacifico beer. The iPod was loaded up – Zac Brown Band’s Toes the first song on the playlist…

I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand,

Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand,

Life is good today, life is good today.

It was a memorable trip. We ate shrimp tacos and listened to mariachis. I lost 17 golf balls in two rounds and nearly broke my 7 iron in half. On Saturday night we jammed out to a cool Mexican rock band with a lead singer that looked like Jesus and had a voice like Chris Cornell. All the while we barely noticed the college kids – it was spring break. When Sunday morning came we wearily packed up the car with our golf clubs and empty cooler for the ride back home.

There was a wait –a very LONG wait – at the border checkpoint to reenter the United States. It took more than three hours to get out of Mexico. When I rolled down my window to greet the Customs agent he took one look at me, Manny and our two friends in the backseat and asked “what are you guys celebrating spring break 10 years later?” I told him I considered that a compliment – we were actually celebrating spring break 20 years later!

Here’s the thing – we knew that our Mancation was the same week as spring break. We realized it two weeks before we left. Most middle aged men would have cancelled the trip, paralyzed by this new information. Not us. Our purpose was a good time, line at the border or not.

Analysis paralysis is an ugly disease. It can kill a vacation or keep you from getting started in real estate investing. Studying stuff like employment figures, vacancy rates, median incomes, economic diversity, contract ratios, median prices and absorption rates in your town is a wise thing to do. Just don’t forget about your purpose – to make money.

Tom Ruff of Information Market and Mike Orr of Cromford Report know the Phoenix housing market better than anyone. They have a way of analyzing complex data and drawing simple conclusions, without the doom and gloom.

In his January 2011 Housing Opinion Tom wrote, “We are living in the time after the crash, not the time before; Phoenix is now offering the same opportunities we saw in the early 90s. I haven’t heard anyone say, boy, I wish I’d have bought that home down the street in 2006 when I had the chance, but I’ll bet you, ten years from now when they look back at this unique time in history…”

In his January 16 mid month pricing update and forecast Mike Orr concluded, “So we see a generally gloomy picture for sales pricing and no sign of any improvement in the next four to six weeks. In fact we see continued deterioration. We do not get too concerned about this however, since sales pricing is a TRAILING INDICATOR of the market and is the last thing to show any turnaround. When we look at other measurements things are not so gloomy. This is because lower pricing results in increased demand which is certainly making its presence known at the moment.”

Remember your purpose. Don’t over analyze. Keep it simple. If you can buy a home in this market and rent it for more than it cost to pay the debt service and expenses then you’ve made a smart investment. If you can buy a home, fix it up and sell it for what you paid, plus another 12-25K in profit, then go for it. Let the numbers guide you, not paralyze you.

Next week Manny and I will embark on Mancation II to Rocky Point – only this time we’re doing it Super Bowl weekend and are returning on Monday morning. We’re expecting the line at the border to be much shorter this year. What can I say? Analyzing the numbers from last year’s trip I learned that we should go a different weekend. I also concluded that I need to bring more golf balls and a spare 7 iron.